CryptoArt
Byakko Kashiwagi

Sho-ha-sannari*1

Production Place:Dai Garan Kondo, Koyasan, Japan

On the day I was born, my mother placed a small Daishi statue in front of the Amida Nyorai Buddha in the family Jodo shinshu Buddhist altar.

Because my two elder brothers had disabilities, I was given a calligraphy brush at the age of 5 as a successor to the third generation family calligrapher. My mother prayed for me countless times visiting the Shikoku 88 sacred temples.
Listening to my mother’s Heart Sutra (Hannya Shingyo) as a lullaby, my journey to becoming Kukai began.
Inside the Dai Garan Kondo at Koyasan, I began to write with my brush, the “Sho-ha-sannari” in the “Henjo Hokki Shoryo shu.”*2
Kukai has stated “Sho-ha-sandearu.”Perfecting the letter shape is not the goal.
Let the mind free itself to the outside world, and let the writing shall follow the seasonal order. The character needs to shape all creations.
Master Kukai is here beside Byakko. “Dogyo-ninin.”*3 With master calligrapher Kukai, my journey to the world of mind and ink starts.

*1 A famous word stated by Kukai, the famous accomplished calligrapher.
*2 A book of Kukai’s words, poems, inscriptions etc.compilated by the Kukai’s disciple.
*3 The mindset when visiting the 88 Shikoku Pilgrimage Sites, that the Kobo Daishi is by your side.

The path to Kyuko

Production Place:Machu Picchu, Peru

We passed a small village in Peru.
I passed a small village at the foot of the mountain.
Peep pip pip, boom boom jaga jaga boom.
Pipip peep peep
Children marched in a line.
Must be the marching band from the school festival.
I saw the Inca Empire on the border of the Andes and the Amazon jungles.
I looked up the mountain but Machu Picchu, the city in the sky, could not be seen.
I climbed the Kyuko stone steps that are clinging on to the steep cliff.
Barefooted old woman carrying a huge bag, slowly walks in front of me.
I passed through a small sturdy stone gates and the Ruins spread in front of me.
The magnificent and overwhelming scenery fascinated me.
The temple of the sun, the temple of the moon, the painting on the castle wall,
I spread the paper in the sacred square and took a deep breath.
“I have known this wind from ages ago.”

Mt. Fuji

Production Place:The summit of Mt. Fuji, Japan

One of my favorite word, “Sekido-seizan.” is a word of a philosopher Jyunshi.
When the soil piles up and form high mountains,naturally wind blows forming clouds.
The clouds collides with the mountains to and becomes form rain.
When the rain drops accumulates,and turns into a deep abyss
The dragon will live in the abyss and start its training It will eventually fly flies up into the sky and becomes a “Ryujin”, the dragon god.
If people practice good deeds,the mind becomes clear and like be filled with a mind of a saint.
It teaches, “Take one step at a time.”
Holding my brush, I wander Mt. Fuji embraces me, lying deep in the sky and sleeping soundlessly.
Spring Mt. Fuji brightly drizzles
Summer Mt. Fuji with the color of the raging flame
Autumn Mt. Fuji divides the sky with its sharpness of ultramarine
Winter Mt. Fuji that creaks with gazillions of snow
When all the appearances of Mt. Fuji has been written down
-The sky shines-